Recent News
POLS Faculty Discuss Midterm Elections on KCBX Radio
Jan 11, 2019
Join host Fred Munroe as he speaks with Political Science and Public Policy Professors, Chris Den Hartog, Ph.D., and Michael Latner, Ph.D., as they discuss the consequences of the Midterm elections, a New Congress and President Trump’s next two years and its importance to the Central Coast. Be sure to listen here.
MPP graduate named one of the Tribune's Top 20 under 40 award winners
Dec 21, 2018
Twenty young San Luis Obispo County residents have been selected from a field of nearly 100 nominees as winners of The Tribune’s 14th annual Top 20 Under 40 Award. Among the winners is Danielle Borelli, a graduate of Cal Poly's MPP program. Danielle is the Business Services Coordinator at the California Cybersecurity Institute (CCI) facility at Camp San Luis Obispo. The CCI provides training courses in cyber security for law enforcement, first-responders, military officers and decision makers.
Three MPP Students Accepted to Present at 2019 WPSA
Nov 2, 2018
Elizabeth Esparza, Elissa Feld and Eamon Nalband had their research projects on technology-based solutions to food redistribution, implementation and policy learning, and energy use and community values accepted to present at the 2019 Western Political Science Association’s Annual Conference in San Diego, CA, in April.
KSBY interview about new voter registrations
Oct 25, 2018
Brett Raffish and Jasmin Fashami, both Political Science majors, were interviewed by KSBY regarding new student voter registrations and how it is important for students to have a "strong voice in their local community." To watch the interview and read the article, please visit KSBY.
CA Bill Project Class Featured in Inside Higher Ed
Oct 12, 2018
Professor Chris Den Hartog's Bill Project class was featured in Inside Higher Ed! Check out the article here. You can also check out The Tribune article here.
To read an article written by students in the Bill Project class, please check out the article in our 2018 Alumni Connections newsletter.
Matt Moore Takes the #1 Podcast Position
Sep 21, 2018
Matt Moore receives the #1 favorite podcast from Research on Religion for his talk on Buddhism, Meditating Machines, and the Robopocalypse! The host of the podcast, Anthony Gill, stated that "after hanging up the phone, I remember sitting back in my chair and going “Whoa!”
Also, be sure to check out Matt's podcast Was the Buddha a Libertarian?.
Cal Poly Named Best in the West by U.S. News and California’s Best Public-Master’s University by Forbes
Sep 14, 2018
Cal Poly has been named the best public, master’s-level university in the West by U.S. News & World Report’s annual America’s Best Colleges guidebook for the 26th straight year. The 2019 guidebook lists Cal Poly in 12th place overall in the West for all regional universities. The Western regional list includes public and private institutions in 15 states that provide “a full range of undergraduate and master’s-level programs but few doctoral programs.” (Universities that grant doctoral degrees, such as those in the University of California system, are listed in a separate category.)
The U.S. News ranking comes on the heels of Forbes naming Cal Poly the No. 1 public masters-level university in the west. “Each of these rankings on its own is an honor; taken together, they paint a clear picture of how Cal Poly is succeeding in its mission to prepare students to be innovative leaders in their careers and solve real-world problems in a global marketplace,” President Armstrong said. “Our faculty and staff work diligently every day with our amazing students to create our renowned Learn by Doing environment. Their efforts are paying off.” The U.S. News rankings methodology focuses on academic excellence, with schools evaluated on hundreds of data points and measures of academic quality, such as graduation and freshman retention rates. Forbes’ methodology favors variables such as alumni salary, student debt, and retention and graduation rates instead of more common metrics such as acceptance rates, endowment amounts and freshmen SAT scores. Read more here and here.
AB 2385 Signed into Law!
Aug 29, 2018
California Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 2385 into law which calls on college textbook publishers to inform students about the differences in textbook editions. The Cal Poly Bill Project class gave students the opportunity to draft a bill and work with state legislators to potentially pass the bill through the California state legislature. Students from the CA Bill Project class worked with Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham, former Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian and faculty advisor Dr. Chris Den Hartog to research and draft the bill throughout the 17-18 academic school year. Earlier this year, students traveled to Sacramento to advocate their support for the bill. For more information, please visit KSBY and The Tribune.
Students present at the 43rd Annual Social Science Student Symposium
May 7, 2018
Three Political Science students, Mira Seyal, Connor Hennessey-Niland, and Ashley Therien presented their research at the 43rd Annual Social Science Student Symposium at Cal State Long Beach over the weekend. The CSU SSRIC Social Science Student Symposium (S4) is modeled on professional conferences in the social sciences where students, from all CSU campuses and California community colleges, in all areas of the social sciences, are able to present their research to their peers.
- Mira Seyal. "The Human Rights Movement: A Failure to Secure Group Rights"
- Connor Hennessey-Niland. "Regional Hegemony in the Arctic: The Push for Arctic Dominance"
- Ashley Therien. "Exploring New Frontiers: Space Is Not Apolitical"
MUN New York and LA
May 3, 2018
2018 Cal Poly Model United Nations Students Travel to New York and LA
New York Model UN
UCLA Model UN
The Cal Poly Model United Nations team spent a weekend in Hollywood participating in UCLA’s 13th annual Model UN conference. Students represented a variety of countries on a multitude of topics. These included Saudi Arabia on the topic of protecting Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, a state councilor of China on the topic of the One Belt, One Road Initiative, and South Africa on the topic of artificial intelligence and humanitarian aid. The students enjoyed exploring Universal City Walk as well as local Hollywood sites. Students were privileged to hear Karen Richardson, who previously served as a state policy advisor for former President Obama, and currently works in the leadership of the Time’s Up movement, speak at LAMUN’s opening ceremonies.